The Elizabethtown College men’s and women’s track teams competed in the 121st Penn Relays on Friday, April 24, and at the Paul Kaiser Classic at Shippensburg University on April 25.

Sophomore Mike Twist, senior Brian Baldwin, first-year Mitch Schlegel, and junior Sam Brooks represented the Blue Jays at the Penn Relays in the 4×400-meter relays. The four runners had a season-best time in the Pop Haddleton MAC heat of the event.

The season-best time of 3:24.89 was enough to earn Etown a seventh place finish. Twist and Baldwin ran in the event the previous year, when they earned a tenth place finish.

The women’s track and field team also competed at the Penn Relays in the 4×400-meter event. Sophomore Kelsey Detweiler, senior Ashley Underkofler, sophomore Casey Quinto and first-year Kelsey Brady ran for a time of 4:08.38 to earn fifth place in the Centennial/MAC heat of the event, which was .05 seconds shy of Ursinus College in fourth place.

This is evident in that several athletes broke personal records at the competition in Shippensburg. Etown’s best event was the 4×800-meter relay, where the team took fourth.

Twist finished 14th in the 800-meter run, making him the Blue Jays’ top finisher. Brooks and first-year Tom Fitzgerald ran their best times in the same event. Junior Ryan Conway ran in the 1500-meter run and finished with the sixth fastest time in program history, and a tenth place finish on Saturday.

First-year Jaime Ramos and sophomore William Kennedy ran their season bests in the 400-meteer intermediate hurdles. First-year Paul Lecurieux-Lafayette made his personal best jump in the triple jump with a jump of 11.26m.

For the women, first-year Brittianni Phillips broke the school record with a throw of 12.38m in the shot put, earning her fourth place in the event. Sophomore Amanda Porter also threw her personal best in the shot put, earning her tenth place.

Quinto won the 3000-meter run, with the fifth fastest time in program history. In the same event, first-year Breanna McNamee, sophomore Liz Wedekind, sophomore Amy Gessler and junior Lydia Dearie finished second, fourth, seventh and ninth, respectively. Senior Amelia Tearnan set a new personal record in the 800m and finished third in the event. Senior Casey Meier finished eighth in the javelin.

The Blue Jays look to compete with tenacity in the upcoming days, knowing that competition will be tough.

“Moravian and Susquehanna have proven to be very strong teams this indoor as they took 1st and 3rd for the women and 1st and 2nd for the men,” Yankelevich said. “Those teams have an immense supply of sprinters in reserve and we just don’t have the numbers or manpower. Still, both teams are going for the win for the two day meet this upcoming weekend.”

The teams head to Susquehanna University for the Landmark Outdoor Championships on Saturday, May 2 and Sunday, May 3.

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